


Selk and Web

by Purple_Taurus



Category: Marvel, Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Fae & Fairies, Knotting, Making Love, Mating Cycles/In Heat, No y/n l/n, Not Beta Read, Peter is terrible at talking to humans, Protective Peter Parker, Reader has a learning disability, Reader was bullied a lot as a kid, Selkie AU, Selkie Peter Parker, but she is not dumb, i'm not good with tags, soul-mates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:47:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24342997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purple_Taurus/pseuds/Purple_Taurus
Summary: Tales of faes and fairies have been recounted again and again throughout all of time. New York is especially ripe with these kinds of tales, especially when strange things happen. A child being saved from a speeding car is the work of a human loving fae, while those who are injured with no real explanation are considered cursed by human-hating faes.You are as average as they come. You don't have powers. You aren't magical in any sense. You're a simple, ordinary girl with simple dreams. Taking a semester off from university to find yourself, you are suddenly approached by a guy with brown hair and eyes holding up a red and blue coat, begging you to take it for your safety. The guy says he is a Selkie and unless you take his jacket, you will die.
Relationships: Peter Parker/Reader
Comments: 5
Kudos: 50





	1. Peter the Selkie

"Please take my coat." The man begs, offering you his red and blue coat. You glare stepping back, a small bottle of pepper spray at the ready in your hand. "I told you I don't want your stupid coat." 

You had been on your way to work when this guy suddenly approached you and demanded you take his coat. The way he spoke, was similar to how a human spoke to their dog, very soft and urging as if he was promising to give you treats for doing a good job.

"It's for your protection!" He urges, boldly stepping closer, panic evident in his tone. He was a young man, roughly around your age with dark brown hair and eyes. He was cute, you would give him that, but there was no way you were going to take his coat. The guy could be a creep for all you knew, and if you let your guard down even once it could lead somewhere dangerous. 

"No." 

"Look," he holds up his other hand in defense, "I understand your hesitation and I wish I could make you understand, but please trust me when I say you're life is in danger unless you take my coat." He offers it to you again, "I'm a Selkie, I can take on a spider form. I can weave strong, nearly indestructible webs. If you want I can show you some magic."

"No thanks." You start to back away, keeping an eye on him with your pepper spray bottle out. You back into something solid and instinctually look over your shoulder. He's right behind you. Eyes widen you look to your front and found the space empty. How on earth did he do that? You jump back, holding up her weapon with a hiss, "Stay back! I'm not afraid to use this on you!" 

He smiles and offers you his coat again. You jam your thumb on the button shooting a long line of spray into his face, right in his eyes, coloring half of his face in red. It should end with him screaming in pain, dropping the coat, and giving you the chance to hightail it out of there. That is how any human would react. Pepper spray is no joke! 

But he didn't scream. He didn't drop his coat, and you definitely didn't get a chance to run. Instead he blinks surprised that you followed through with your threat before wiping the thick residue off his eyes. 

You gasp and look between him and the pepper spray. Your spray was one of the jelly kind, the kind that is super thick and sticky like glue and would cause anyone to lose their freaking mind if it was sprayed in their eyes. Even if you had missed it still would have hurt had the spray touched someone's skin, it would have burned terribly. Dropping the bottle you step back, afraid, "Stay back!" 

He looks hurt, "I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to help. I wasn't lying about what I said about being a Selkie. I am a fae. Look," he draws in a deep breath, as if preparing to tell a long story. "There are three kinds of faes in this world, all you can't see. We are invisible to humans. There are a huge variety of us, there's selkies, like me, as well as Sprites, Leprecauns, Wood Elves, Giants, Goblins, Hobgoblins, Treefolk, Merfolk, Kelpies, Trolls-"

"Okay, I get it, there is a lot." You say, knowing if you didn't stop him he would just raddle off every single species he could think of. "But if what you say is true, and I use the term lightly, how can I see you?"

He sheepishly scratches the back of his head, "Well, this will probably be hard to believe, but you're my soul-mate." 

Soul-Mate? How can you be anyone's soul-mate, much less a freaking Selkie's? "Excuse me?" 

"I know, it sounds crazy, but I swear I'm telling the truth. Fae can see their soul-mates, there's like an aura around you. That's how I know. I can see it and you can see me. Only soul-mates can see each other like this."

You fight to keep your composure as he continues. 

"Listen to me, please. I know you have every reason to run for the hills right now and I wouldn't blame you, because your human and humans don't like to believe what's right before their eyes, but your life is in danger right now. I have enemies. Lots of enemies who would go to great lengths to kill you. Fae can't hurt each other because of a magical bond that keeps us in line. All fae are separated into three categories, humans loving fae, human-hating fae, and fae who don't care for humans. The later of which are usually the ones causing mischief, like Phookas and those guys can be pretty devious. The point is, my enemies can't hurt me, but they won't hesitate to hurt you as a way of getting back. Humans are more of less bargaining chips to faes, the bad faes hurt humans as a way of getting to faes who like humans." He offers you his coat again, "You probably don't understand, being a human yourself, I can't expect that much from you, but for your safety, I need you to take my coat. Please."

You scrunch up your face, irritated at how he seemed to degrade your species like you were a common pet who didn't know any better. Are all fae this condescending about humans? Did faes see your kind as inferior? Immediately you start to compare faes to the humans protesting zoos, demanding the animals be released to their natural environment and not be used for entertainment. It made you feel sick that this is probably what your 'soul-mate' sees you as, nothing but a brainless animal. 

You know what it is like to be picked on for certain attributes that are out of your control. Being slower than most kids at the beginning of your school life didn't leave you with many friends. Most laughed and made fun of you, calling you an idiot for not understanding. It wasn't your fault you had a learning problem. You fought and clawed your way to the top of your class, putting in extra hours of studying to finally be seen as a person, not a "special person." 

You shake your head again, much to his disappointment. 

"Why not?" He asks, holding up his coat higher, "Your life is in danger." 

Your glare at him, feeling extra salty, "I'm sorry, I just don't know any better. Maybe if you use slow, simple words I might be a little more cooperative, but I'm afraid I have to leave for work. Why don't you take your coat and give it to someone who isn't as dumb as me." You don't wait to hear his response, shoot past him, and stomping away as he calls after you. The jerk doesn't even know your name. He keeps saying, "Human! Human!" Like that is what you're called now. He has the balls to say you're his soul-mate but fails to get to know your real name.

You arrive work late and quickly apologize to your boss before throwing on your brightly colored apron and getting to baking.


	2. You're in Trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You are almost attacked by a large, black monster named Venom. Peter saves you and you find out a few things about the fae world, as well as learned that not all public figures are human.

It has been a week since Peter Parker approached you with his coat. Seven days, one hundred and sixty-eight hours, and counting. You were becoming less and less tolerable with him as the days progressed. It was becoming a chore to even leave your humble apartment because you know he's going to be standing outside your front door, with his coat. Luckily, faes have laws that forbid them from entering a home without being invited in by the home's master. Some kind of Dracula rule, apparently. It was a relief that you didn't need to worry about him following you into your living room. He would always ask to be let in and you always refuse.

You woke up to a nice Monday morning with the sunlight peeking in through your bedroom curtains, gold rays warming your bare skin. It would have been a perfect start to your day if it was not for a persistent knocking on your door. Groaning aloud, you roll over to shove your face into your pillow and whimper pathetically at the mere idea of getting up so soon.

The knocking continues, a little louder this time.

Who the freaking, freak could be here at this time? Was it your nosy neighbor, Mrs. Clodd? Probably, the old woman never knows when to mind her own business, and given that you were a young lady with no boyfriend or husband to speak of, she was constantly pestering you like a gossiping hen about her grandson who is "Such a nice boy." And "You two would look cute together!" The way she gushes about her grandson was cute at first, but soon it became clear she wasn't going to relent unless you agree to go on a date with him. It would not have been a problem, had the guy been interested in you in the first place. He was living in downtown Manhattan, about half an hour from Queens. Plus, you learned, he already had a girlfriend.

A girlfriend that Mrs. Clodd disapproved of because she was of "mixed race." You didn't associate with Mrs. Clodd shortly after that.

The knocking becomes more rapid, like the foot of a rabbit thumping its back paw on the ground. Someone was impatient. Kicking off your blanket you stomp across the room to swing the door open and find Peter standing outside. With his coat held out. "Please!"

"No." You slam the door shut. How long was he going to keep this up? You ignore the knocking and march right back to bed, throwing yourself into the welcoming softness, you fall right back to sleep.

A few hours later, you are dressed and ready to leave. You look through your peephole to find Peter wasn't there. Sliding your purse higher on your shoulder, your sneak out and hurry down the metal stairs, purposely avoiding the elevator, and popping out the front doors like a happy little fawn on this beautiful summer day.

Yep, it was beautiful. The skies were bright with hardly a cloud, and the wind had a slight coolness to it, nothing too chilly, it playfully tugged the lengthy skirt of your bright yellow summer dress. Taking in the sweet warm air, you spin on the heels of your favorite brown boots and march off happily to one of the local parks. There were several here, but your favorite was Flushing Meadows Park. It was the closest to your apartment and the bakery you worked at.

As you make your trek, a strange feeling begins to swell up inside you. You can't quite place it, but it feels rather icky. An icky, dark, slimy feeling. You start to feel a little tired and pause at the crosswalk, as you shakily press the button on the metal post, you take note of someone standing next to you. He was tall, huge, and black. Not black as in its race, no, but black as in his entire body is ink black, except for the chalk-white spider spread across his chest, and eggy looking eyes. He looks at you and grins, showing off a mouthful of massive teeth with a slippery red tongue lashing out to lather his impressive jaws. He doesn't have lips, just gums. He's rather hunched over, with his razor-sharp claws close to the ground.

You have never seen something so frightening before in your entire life and when he stepped closer to you with devious intent, you found yourself bolting across the street without even looking to see if you were safe to cross. A truck slams on its breaks, it's drive sticking his head out to curse you, but you don't stop and apologize, instead, you ran faster because that thing is gaining on you!

You glance back and can see him catching up fast. He was moving at an inhuman speed. You turn back and can see more people, none look bothered. You shove past them all, earning angry looks and shouts but don't stop. Even when you find you're running out of sidewalk and the monster is gaining up you still don't stop. There was a corner ahead, one to tight for you to turn. If you slowed down even a little, he was going to get you. Tears swell up in your eyes as you realize you were about to be eaten by some monster.

The monster suddenly drops in front of you, his mouth open wide as if to swallow you whole. You trip and land hard on the sidewalk, but before you could react, another monster, smaller in build and shorter, wearing a familiar red and blue appears in front of you, his arms outstretched on either side acting as your shield.

The larger monster roars, it's long red tongue lashing out.

The smaller creature snarls back, "Leave her alone. She's mine!"

"Yours..." it hisses, face scrunching up in a disgusting smile, even from a short distance you could smell something rotten from its yellowing teeth. "Yours... yummy."

"I said leave her alone!"

You know that voice. Its Peter! Is this what he looks like when he's wearing his coat?

The creature snarls, stomping forward, trying to use his size to intimidate the other male. Peter continues to stand his ground, "If you want her, you'll have to get through me. So go ahead and try and see what happens, Venom!"

Venom roars again, before tearing off a nearby postage box and throwing it high in the air until it was nothing but a distant dark blue dot. He glares at your once more, licking his teeth before turning and jumping away, easily launching himself across the city with no effort.

Peter nods to himself before turning back to you. "You okay?"

You swallow and nod. He offers you his hand and you take it, allowing him to help you up to your feet. Your legs feel like jelly with your scraped knees knocking together.

Peter sighs, "I told you to take my coat. Now, do you see why?"

You couldn't help but glare at him and his patronizing tone. "What the heck was that thing?"

"His name is venom, he's a fae too, a Goblin, really nasty guy. He's not someone you want to mess with and like a lot of goblins, he hates humans."

You shiver a little, "He looked like he was going to eat me."

Peter nods, "He probably was. Goblins eat anything they can get their hands on. Goblins are no joke, they're one of the most dangerous faes around, and he's the largest of them all. If it wasn't for the fact that Norman was king of the Goblins, Venom would be the one in charge." Then he pats you on the head, "Luckily your friendly neighborhood Spider was here to save you."

You glare and push his hand aside. "Well thank you for the save, Spidey, I appreciate it." He cocks his head as you straighten out your clothes and pick up your fallen purse. You notice his stare and raise your brow at him. "Something wrong?"

"You uh..." he scratches the back of his redhead awkwardly, "You look very nice today."

"Thanks." You say simply. Now that you're seeing him in his coat you couldn't help but wonder about his appearance, he wore a red and blue tight suit, nothing like the coat you saw earlier. It was strange because it fitted him like a costume. He even had large white reflective lenses. "So this is what you look like with your coat on?"

"Sort of, it's shape-shifting. It conforms to my body to the way I need it too. I can still transform into a spider, but in this case, I'm in between a spider and man."

You laugh a little, "I guess I better start calling you Spider-Man, then."

He chuckles a little, "That has a nice ring to it. Anyways, now that you've seen what we're dealing with here, maybe you should-"

You sigh aloud, "Are you seriously asking me to take your coat? What is so important about me taking your gosh darn coat?"

"It's a Selkie thing." He says and slips it off. You blush when you see he was wearing nothing underneath it, showing off his muscled chest. Immediately you look away, the image of his washboard abs burned into your mental eyes permanently. Thank goodness, he was still wearing boxers, they were the cute white ones with red hearts.

"It's basically marriage. When someone takes a Selkie's coat that Selkie is bound to them and if that person returns the coat to the Selkie then they are essentially married, at least in Fae laws they are. Humans are a little more fickle about that sort of stuff."

You frown at Peter, "Please stop saying stuff like that about humans."

"Well it's true," he says, "I mean, don't humans cheat on each other and abandon their young to get with younger or prettier humans? What is with that anyway? I don't understand what the appeal is, I mean aren't you humans satisfied with your current mate? What makes you want more?"

"Stop it," You snap, stomping closer making him step back, "If you hate humans so much why on earth are you trying to protect me? If anything it sounds like you feel I'm nothing more than a pain in your butt."

"I don't hate humans, you got that completely wrong."

"Well from the sound of it, you do hate us. You're always going on about how stupid humans are, or how we're so inferior to you fae, maybe if you take a walk in my shoes for a bit you could see for yourself what a human is really like, instead of being an ignorant asshole! Just because there are humans out there who have done that stuff, doesn't mean we're all the same. Not everyone is like that. That would be like me telling you that Selkies eat humans just like Goblins do because you're all fae."

He grows silent allowing your words to sink in, finally, after an endless pause, he speaks quietly, realization evident in his tone. "Am I really that bad?"

"Yeah, you are," You say before turning around, showing him your back, "You know for someone who is 'trying to protect me,' you make it sound like I'm a useless human with no common sense what so ever. If I were you, Peter, I would stop looking at me like a human and see me as a person. Not your soul-mate, but a person."

He doesn't respond, and you walk away to leave him to his thoughts. Even with your life in danger, you would rather die with your dignity than live without it.

Several days go by without a visit from Peter. It was fine for you at first, but soon you started to miss him, even if he was a pestering annoyance in your waking life, it was nice to finally have someone constant in your life.

Since you were a little kid, you never had much in terms of friends. Sure there were plenty of nice kids you met, but they eventually drifted away and no matter how hard you tried it was like you were never meant to be apart of something in school. Being friendless, and having troubles in school left you an open target to the bullies, making your school life almost a living nightmare, and the yearly breaks were a god's sent.

Finally, after graduating from high school and moving out on your own, you found yourself free for the first time. It was hard to find a job in New York, but eventually, you found your footing in the bakery, making specialty cakes, cookies, and more. Baking was your passion with so much artistic opportunity. Being artsy was one of your talents, you thought up of something interesting, draw up a design, and figure out how to apply it to your next project.

On the fifth day, you answer your door to find Peter waiting with a guilty look on his face. When he saw you, he opened his mouth to say something but second-guessed himself and casts his eyes to the ground.

You don't need to ask what's wrong, you can feel he was upset about his previous actions. You smile weakly, offering him your forgiveness before speaking, "So I guess you had a lot to think about?"

"I," he starts, scratching the back of his head, "I wanted to apologize for what I said about you, I didn't know it was upsetting you."

You cross your arms leaning against the door frame, "You really made me feel like an idiot, do you know that?"

He nods, "I'm sorry."

You sigh, and glance at his hands, noting he didn't have his coat. "Where is your coat?"

"I thought about what you said and if you're willing, I would like to try and live as a human for a little bit."

Your eyes widen, "What, why would you want to do that?"

"I want to get to know you," he says, "Plus since you don't want to take my coat, I figured this would the best way for me to protect you." Peter shifts from one foot to the other, "Would you be okay with me staying with you as a human?" He looks at you waiting for your answer.

You bite your lip looking back into your apartment, "I don't know." Your apartment was a single room, it was the only place close enough to your work, with no car you either had to bike or walk. You couldn't waste your money on a cab.

"I won't be a burden," Peter insists, "I'll clean up after myself, I'll pay my way with some gold I have saved up, and I can keep you safe from my enemies."

Your frown, "Gold? Peter, do you know what human currency is?"

He cocks his head, "I thought humans valued gold?"

"We do, but we have different currencies, there's Euros, Yen, Dollars, and more that I can't think of right now. Any gold you have, you'll need to trade at a pawn shop or something, they won't accept it at any stores."

"Wait so I have to trade my gold for money in order to live with you?"

You frown folding your arms again, "I haven't agreed to that yet. Plus, if you're going to live as a human for a while then you might as well get the full human experience out of it."

Peter sighs in defeat, running a hand through his dark hair, "Okay, if it means keeping you safe, I think I can manage. Will you let me stay with you?"

You consider it, one on hand your place was ridiculously small, even by apartment standards, but then again this was New York, one of the most densely populated places in the U.S. You could lay out the air mattress for him. Plus, he promised to pay his way, any extra money would do you some good, especially with rent coming up. But what if people get suspicious, especially Mrs. Codd? She'll surely pick up on what's going on if she can see him. Can people see him?

"Can people see you right now?"

"If I let them," he says, "I'm using a spell to make myself visible to humans right now, but you can still see me without it."

"Okay, well if you stay there are going to be some rules." You hold up one finger, "First, no magic. Aside from the spell, you're using right now of course, I don't want anyone thinking I'm crazy. The second rule is you can't discriminate my kind, ever. Got it?"

"Just the two rules?"

You shrug, "I might add more later depending on what happens next."

He nods, "Alright, but I have a rule too. If I manage, let's say, three months as a human, not using magic except for this, and not discriminating you or any humans, you have to wear my coat."

You sigh, "What is with you and that stupid coat?"

"It's for your protection! If any faes see you with my coat they'll know you're my soul-mate and they can't hurt you."

"You still haven't explained the whole soul-mate concept to me, is this like a big deal or something?"

He nods, "Of course it is! Soul-mates are a huge deal in the fae community. Once you see you're soul-mate you create this bond that's unbreakable, it lasts for life. And the more you spend time with them, the stronger that bond will be, it will get to the point where we can sense where the other is and if they're hurt. Hence, why I'm here. If you won't accept my coat then this is the only other option I can think of. If you die that's it for me. I'll wither away, and humans are very wea-"

"Stop," you warn, "Remember our deal, Peter. You can't discriminate."

He winces, "Sorry. What I mean to say is that humans are vulnerable to fae magic. Like what happened with Venom. He's Norman's top guy, and they both hate my guts, even though I'm close friends to the Goblin Prince, Harry Osborn."

You cock your head, "So Norman hates you, but you're friends with his son? How does that work?"

"It's complicated," Peter shrugs, obviously a story for another day. You sigh again. What happened to your life? Everything was fine but then this guy shows up with his Harry Potter BS and you just want to return to normal. Was that really so much to ask for?

"Anyways, I'm sorry to drag you into this, it wasn't my intention." He looks at you with pure guilt in his soft eyes. "I wish I could change this so that you could live a normal human life, but that's just not how it works."

"Do all faes have human soul-mates?" You couldn't help but ask. Peter's sudden appearance into your life left you near the door to a new world. You were wondering what was going on if there were people in your life who were fae in disguise, and if so, were they okay with living without magic. Did faes have lives in the human world? What if...

Osborn.

Wait...

Your eyes widen, "You said Norman Osborn was the Goblin King, didn't you?"

Peter nods, "Yeah, I did. Why?"

"Norman Osborn," you repeat, shaking in her house slippers, "The Norman Osborn, the CEO of Oscorp, he's a goblin!"

Peter immediately covers your mouth with a low hiss, "Don't say that out loud. Yes, he is, and yeah, I'm shocked too. It's not every day that a fae finds a way to commute between the human world and the invisible one, but some do. Norman sees humans as a threat because they hate goblins and in the past have been at war, having a company like Oscorp is basically his way of keeping humans in line. All the people that work for him are all goblins in disguise."

You stammer, "S-So if I go into Oscorp right now, I would be entering the Goblin King's territory."

He nods, "Basically, but I wouldn't do that if I were you. Norman has a lot of powerful magic. Not only can he take on a human form, but he can also make you disappear without a trace. I don't want you anywhere near him or his company, okay?"

You nod mutely.

"And to answer your first question, no. It's very rare for faes to have human soul-mates, but it's not unheard of. I recently became an adult in fae terms and when that happens you're supposed to dream about your soul-mate because of a bond you have with them. I don't know how I think it was probably Loki who discovered it and spilled the new to all my enemies that you're my soul-mate."

"Why would he do that?"

Peter gives holds up two fingers and counts, "One, he's a Phooka, they're shape-shifting tricksters, and two, I've had a few run-ins with him, one of which I had to stop him from tormenting a local fisherman near the bay. Nearly drowned the guy too just for fun."

You felt sick after hearing that. Why would anyone kill someone just for fun, fae or not, that was just sick and terrible. It also made you hope that you would never have to cross paths with Loki.

"So, can I stay?" Peter asks, rather hopefully.

You consider it, having a roommate wouldn't be so bad as long as he wasn't a total pain in your butt. It won't be easy, you can already tell it wasn't, but maybe some change in your life could do you some good. You nod, "I guess so, come on in."

"Thank you!" He chimes and quickly pecks your lips before walking past you to survey your humble home, "Wow, this place is tiny!"

You stand in the doorway, shell shocked by what had just happened. Tenderly you reach to touch your lips where Peter kissed you. 'I think I'm in trouble.'

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this is new for me. I've been reading some Selkie stories and decided to write my own for the heck of it. I don't know how this is going to go, or what anyone is going to think of it. Definitely one of the more out-there stories, I'm sure, especially with what I'm thinking about adding on in later chapters. I've taken a lot of inspiration from the Spiderwick Chronicles and decided to add a few elements of it to this story. I hope you enjoy this! :D


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